Propagate and Plant: Cassowary Conservation

Dear Friends & Supporters

Thanks to your generous support another rainforest property in the Daintree Rainforest has been protected.

Recently we celebrated the purchase and protection of our 21st property in the Daintree, home to the Endangered Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius johnsonii). With only 1,000 Cassowaries left in the wild in Australia, every rainforest property protected ensures the survival of this important rainforest species.

Our 21st property at Lot 76 Rosewood Road Cow Bay is the eighth property to be included in our Baralba Corridor Nature Refuge. The word 'Baralba' comes from the local Aboriginal people, the kuki yalanji, and means  'wildlife track'. The corridor provides critical habitat linkages between two sections of the Daintree National Park/World Heritage Area.

The purchase of Lot 76 Rosewood Road came about when the owners contacted Rainforest Rescue directly to seek advice on how to minimise the impact on the surrounding rainforest when building their dream home. It's a tough question and one we get asked from time to time by landowners in the Daintree. As always we respond with the tough answer: Don't build your home there. We suggested to the owner that perhaps he and his family would consider selling the property to us instead so that we could save the rainforest forever.

At the time the owner was committed to building his family dream home and we left the conversation there. A few months passed and he contacted us again. We were surprised and delighted when he said he would consider selling us the property at a price that would only recover their costs, and not to make a profit on the sale. The family came to this decision after seeing Endangered Southern Cassowaries on their property.

With each property that we purchase we come one step closer to achieving our vision of buying back all properties in the Daintree Rainforest threatened by residential development.

Right now five properties are at the top of our urgent buy back list. Please donate now to ensure  precious Cassowary habitat is preserved forever.

Four of the properties are located in the Forest Creek Precinct and form an almost continuous rainforest block. Buying all four at once will create a critical wildlife corridor for the Endangered Southern Cassowary and 122 other rare and threatened species that call the Daintree home. These properties are also close to four other properties purchased and protected by Rainforest Rescue thereby consolidating 10 years worth of conservation efforts in this area of the Daintree.

The fifth property is located in the Kimberely Precinct and is nearby to six other Rainforest Rescue properties.

The purchase of these five properties will go a long way to helping us achieve our vision to buy back and protect all remaining 180 properties threatened by residential development in the Daintree Lowland Rainforest by 2030.

Please donate today and save the Daintree forever.

• Rainforest Rescue Daintree Top 5 Buy Back List (PDF)